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From net to knit... (Read 65651 times)
Masiakasaurus
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Re:  From net to knit...
Reply #135 - Sep 6th, 2010 at 3:41pm
 
peacefuljeffrey wrote on Sep 6th, 2010 at 3:18pm:
I'm eternally grateful for the the help, guidance and encouragement you guys gave to me. I would not have been able to make these awesome slings, otherwise.

I'll take a few pictures of the Black Mamba later on and email them to you like before, ok? Smiley

Perfect. and I'll post them in the pics thread.
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Pikåru wrote on Nov 19th, 2013 at 6:59pm:
Massi - WTF? It's called a sling. You use it to throw rocks farther and faster than you could otherwise. That's all. 
~Engineers like to solve problems. If there are no problems handily avialable, they will create their own problems.~
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peacefuljeffrey
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Re:  From net to knit...
Reply #136 - Sep 10th, 2010 at 4:15am
 
Tonight as I left work and was heading to my car in the back parking lot, I grabbed three rocks from the railbed of the railroad tracks. Three rocks about 1.5 - 2 in. diameter, and a guess of maybe 4 oz.(?)

The lot is large -- easily over a football field in length and almost as wide. Only one other car left there at midnight besides mine. So I took out my yellow knitted sling and loaded it up for
its first use.  Cheesy

At first, all I did was let the rock fall out of the pouch to the ground. I wanted to make sure that there was no indication that it might catch in the pouch and fail to fly free (which could be disastrous). It seemed totally fine, so I proceeded for throwing.

Let me tell you, maybe it's the fact that it was dense rock instead of my usual golf balls, but I put nearly nothing on the throw, and still the rock went easily 100 feet. I'm talking about seriously curtailed effort involved. Each of the three throws made high, slow arcs -- because I was very concerned about over-distancing right outta the lot. I have a feeling that when I can take this sling, or the Black Mamba, out afield, it's going to do some scary, scary things when I can cut loose with it! Cheesy
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Cradled rock is slung&&Once around the back and gone&&Flying far and true
 
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peacefuljeffrey
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Re:  From net to knit...
Reply #137 - Sep 12th, 2010 at 1:37am
 
Happily, I am on Long Island. I arrived on Saturday afternoon, and went for a ride with my dad and my best friend to Long Beach in my home town, Smithtown. The north shore Long Island beaches were put there by glaciers and are ultra-well-stocked with very sweet slinging stones.

I didn't get a whole lot of time there, but I did get a chance to try out my knitted "Black Mamba" sling. It did really well, and the limitations at this point appear to be (as I expected) my own rustiness, the unevenness of the sand, my apprehension at having people nearby, and the uncertainty that the finger loop was tight enough to stay on my finger.

I'll make a more snug loop on the next sling, just for a little additional security, even
though this one didn't really come near to falling off.

I am almost finished with another Black Mamba to give to my brother when I see him on Nantucket on Tuesday. Gonna give him a lesson if he's interested.
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Cradled rock is slung&&Once around the back and gone&&Flying far and true
 
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peacefuljeffrey
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Re:  From net to knit...
Reply #138 - Sep 29th, 2010 at 2:27am
 
Well, I got to do only a minimal amount of slinging on my vacation.
I did give the second Black Mamba to my brother, but he's pulled in a lot of different directions, attention-wise, these days, so he didn't get around to taking a lesson. (I recently sent him a link to Brian Grubbs' Figure-8 video, though.)

I'm currently working on knitted sling #6; these things are a lot of fun to make! Cheesy

So far, I've made the yellow one, a hemp one, the original Black Mamba, my brother's Black Mamba, another longer hemp one (42"), and now a third Black Mamba (~45").

Still haven't gone out with golf balls to try them out, although I did sling about 10-15 rocks into Long Island Sound on 9/11/10, and also about 20 into Nantucket Harbor a week later. I'm looking forward to using a 40-someodd inch Black Mamba with golf balls, really. That, and I'm going to be refining my technique more along the lines of Brian's. I realized that I haven't been doing the "step-into" portion of his Figure-8.

Perhaps this weekend, I'll find the time to get out to sling a bit.
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Cradled rock is slung&&Once around the back and gone&&Flying far and true
 
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peacefuljeffrey
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Re:  From net to knit...
Reply #139 - Oct 3rd, 2010 at 10:36pm
 
Woot! I finally got out with the Black Mamba and some golf balls and had a good time whacking the wall of my local amphitheater! Smiley

The sling feels really good. It's like the teddy bear of slings -- since it's made of soft nylon cord that's knitted, it has a soft feel to my hand as I load it. And the finger loop is soft and comfortable.

I was a little rusty, and I did put a bunch of shots into the grass ten yards away. But then I tried hard to focus on smooth, fluid motion without trying to put full power on them. The shots got better, and gradually, I increased the speed/power and finally had some good whizzers. I need to get out and practice practice practice a lot more. I am certain that the limiting factor at this point is ME: the sling is capable of way more performance than I am, right now.


edit:  I suspect that the light traffic that this thread is seeing may be due to the idea that knitting a sling is one of the more challenging, technique-intensive methods.

How about this:  If any of you find yourselves in the vicinity of Palm Beach County, Florida, send me a message and we'll meet up for lunch; in an afternoon, I can have you knitting slings.  I really think that's possible.
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« Last Edit: Oct 4th, 2010 at 9:03pm by peacefuljeffrey »  

Cradled rock is slung&&Once around the back and gone&&Flying far and true
 
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timann
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Re:  From net to knit...
Reply #140 - Oct 8th, 2010 at 1:37pm
 
My....knitting is going rather well, I think I got the necessary tecniques well in hand, but I have not yet found the time to begin or the right material for it.  So I just keep practicing, to not be rusty when the right time comes.
timann
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peacefuljeffrey
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Re:  From net to knit...
Reply #141 - Oct 8th, 2010 at 7:11pm
 
If you are talking about looking for material to use for a knitted sling, I can help.

Go to The Home Depot and get some "mason's twine."  It's very inexpensive, and one spool can make at least several slings.
The colors you'll find tend to be limited to white, bright yellow, and bright pink.

Alternatively, if you want black (I love black), go to Walmart and go to the knitting/crocheting section, and look for "crochet thread."  There are different kinds, so look for the kind that is nylon.  I bought a spool for $4.27, and it has made two Black Mamba slings and still has enough left for at least one more, possibly two.  Oh, and if you use this stuff, I recommend size 11 double-ended needles, which should be 7mm.  The gauge from that combination is very appropriate for the sling.  Most times, such needles come in packs of four or five.  (You'll need either two or three as you knit the sling.)
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Cradled rock is slung&&Once around the back and gone&&Flying far and true
 
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Caldou
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Re:  From net to knit...
Reply #142 - Aug 28th, 2011 at 3:07pm
 
I learnt to knit with this fun little project... And it became my favorite sling (ok, that's mainly because it is the first not-too-crappy-looking one, but also because it is really a great design Tongue ).

I made it from one skein of cotton rope, and it works wonderfully with tennis ball and stones.


But do you think I can translate it into french knitting terminology ? and more, put it into Ravelry, the knitting network, while obviously mentionning Matthias and slinging.org (and even with a link ^^ ) ? Yes, i'm one of the "make people sling and the world will be better" kind Wink

I tried to contact him... but no answer Embarrassed so, what do you think of this ?
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Masiakasaurus
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Re:  From net to knit...
Reply #143 - Aug 28th, 2011 at 11:55pm
 
Sounds fine to me. BTW, send a friend request to Masiakasaurus on Ravelry so I can see the pattern when you're done.
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Pikåru wrote on Nov 19th, 2013 at 6:59pm:
Massi - WTF? It's called a sling. You use it to throw rocks farther and faster than you could otherwise. That's all. 
~Engineers like to solve problems. If there are no problems handily avialable, they will create their own problems.~
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peacefuljeffrey
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Re:  From net to knit...
Reply #144 - Sep 3rd, 2011 at 8:03pm
 
I am trying to figure out why I ever would have said to use "size 11 / 7mm" needles, because I just looked and saw that the needles I've used for this were size 5 / 3.75 mm. Sorry if I caused anyone any confusion or frustration.

Meanwhile, it's been many months since I knitted a sling, and this type of memory tends to fall out of my head if unused (as do the techniques for many turk's head knots, I've found). I'm trying to re-figure out the casting-on steps for making the i-cord strands. ...
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Cradled rock is slung&&Once around the back and gone&&Flying far and true
 
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Re:  From net to knit...
Reply #145 - Sep 3rd, 2011 at 9:41pm
 
I tried to learn how to knit so I could make this sling.  I can make a flat... scarf-ey looking thing but something of this awesome still eludes me.

peacefuljeffrey wrote on Oct 3rd, 2010 at 10:36pm:
Black Mamba

All I can think of...  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flEG4fpzRCA
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peacefuljeffrey
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Re:  From net to knit...
Reply #146 - Sep 6th, 2011 at 10:43pm
 
Eoraptor wrote on Sep 3rd, 2011 at 9:41pm:
I tried to learn how to knit so I could make this sling.  I can make a flat... scarf-ey looking thing but something of this awesome still eludes me.



I brought out my materials the other night and literally had to relearn a major portion of how to make one of these. I now have one in progress.
I had to relearn how to start the i-cord (the tubular knit pattern for the cords) and then how to do the increases and decreases in the pouch. The thing that gets me through the fear (of not being able to do again something that I once was able to do) is the experience of having come through difficult learning processes before. That, and the patience that I learned when (as you can see earlier in this thread) I went from, "I'll never be able to learn to make this sling!" to "Holy moly, I've just finished one and it came out great!" in a period of days. I no longer expect instant gratification; I have learned to allow the process to take the time that it needs.

I wish that I could sit down with an eager student and walk him through this sling. That, OR I wish that I had the right equipment to be able to make some good quality tutorial videos that would walk someone through how to knit this.

Invitation is still extended to anyone who comes into the southern Florida area, to trade sling knowledge and launch some golf balls.  I'd travel up to about 100 miles, I think, if a meet-up were planned.  If it's a possibility for anyone, let me know.  I am indeed willing to teach any newbie who needs it how to:
- make a PJ Sling
- make a Woven Pouch Sling
- make a seatbelt sling

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Cradled rock is slung&&Once around the back and gone&&Flying far and true
 
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peacefuljeffrey
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Re:  From net to knit...
Reply #147 - Sep 11th, 2011 at 1:00am
 
.... and of course how to make a knitted sling. (I somehow forgot that one in my list, there.)
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Cradled rock is slung&&Once around the back and gone&&Flying far and true
 
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Re:  From net to knit...
Reply #148 - Oct 8th, 2011 at 12:20pm
 
At least, the translation in finished...

For now, you can find it on my blog, with all my blabbering in french ^^.
The hard part was to find the right translation for all the technical parts : No 18 seine twine... we don't have this in France :p Or not under this name and i can't seem to find a correct translation Sad

I'm working on making a nice pdf out of it, and i will soon put it on ravelry ^^

BTW, does anyone know why the second one's pouch (the whitest one in the picture) is not left-right symetrical ?  Huh
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Masiakasaurus
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Re:  From net to knit...
Reply #149 - Oct 8th, 2011 at 11:16pm
 
Caldou wrote on Oct 8th, 2011 at 12:20pm:
At least, the translation in finished...

For now, you can find it on my blog, with all my blabbering in french ^^.
The hard part was to find the right translation for all the technical parts : No 18 seine twine... we don't have this in France :p Or not under this name and i can't seem to find a correct translation Sad

I'm working on making a nice pdf out of it, and i will soon put it on ravelry ^^

BTW, does anyone know why the second one's pouch (the whitest one in the picture) is not left-right symetrical ?  Huh

The technique used to increase and decrease the number of stitches makes it look not symmetrical. I've made both symmetrical and asymmetrical pouches and they throw the same.

P.S. #18 is just the most common size of mason line, and seine twine is just mason line coated in tar so that it can be made into a fishing net (a seine) that won't rot. If I remember right, #18 mason line is about 2mm in diameter.
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Pikåru wrote on Nov 19th, 2013 at 6:59pm:
Massi - WTF? It's called a sling. You use it to throw rocks farther and faster than you could otherwise. That's all. 
~Engineers like to solve problems. If there are no problems handily avialable, they will create their own problems.~
WWW elsabio04  
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